The Seattle-King County Board of Realtors has named Ted Baseler, CEO of Chateau Ste. Michelle, as its "First Citizen" for his community leadership. He joins a roster of worthies (Norm Rice, Lenny Wilkens, Dan Evans) from the worlds of politics, sports, the arts, and business.
It's a good moment to recall that Ste. Michelle is by far the largest wine company in the Pacific Northwest, larger than all the others combined, yet it's only 40 years old. The company was created when Wally Opdycke, a portfolio manager for Safeco Insurance, discovered a virtually defunct outfit called North American Wine Company that still had a valid federal liquor permit as well as some vineyards and production facilities. When Safeco execs weren't convinced, Opdycke and a couple of friends bought NAWICO on their own. An agricultural extension agent named Walter Clore was telling growers across eastern Washington to grow wine grapes, not just juice; Opdycke paid attention, and the first efforts at making "local" wine proved promising.
Opdycke needed more vineyards and production capacity, and looking around for sources of capital realized that tobacco companies had tons of cash. He flew to Connecticut to meet with Louis Bantle, who controlled United States Tobacco (Skoal and Copenhagen brands) and made a deal that changed the face of Washington agriculture. Bantle essentially wrote a check for $100 million to finance NAWICO's development as a wine powerhouse (vineyards, wineries, and, above all, a national sales organization). In return, UST was able to shelter hundreds of millions of profits from its tobacco business.
Before Opdycke left the venture, his daughter asked a prescient question: "How about naming NAWICO for a girl?" So Ste. Michelle was born. Allen Shoup, a one-time brand manager for Gallo, came on board to run the new company, and he recruited an ad guy and WSU grad named Ted Baseler to run the marketing side of the business. When Shoup moved on to start his own wine company a decade ago, Baseler moved up.
All this and Washington Wine Month, too.
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